IP Law Daily, COPYRIGHT—N.D. Ohio: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is off the hook for copyright infringement claim, (Nov 12, 2025)

By Matthew Hersh, J.D.

The lawsuit involves two photographs of legendary guitarist Eddie Van Halen.

The owner and operator of a prominent rock and roll museum made a fair use of two photographs of a rock and roll legend because it uses them as “but one of many design elements” in an exhibit that focused on the guitars and related sound equipment that the musician used during his lengthy career, the federal court for Cleveland has held. The court, in granting the museum’s motion to dismiss on the pleadings, also found that the photographer failed to allege harm to the market for his work because he did not claim that he had ever previously licensed his photographs to museums (Zlozower v. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc., No. 1:24-cv-01817-CAB (N.D. Ohio Nov. 10, 2025)).

The lawsuit involves a display at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum entitled “Play It Loud: Instruments of Rock & Roll.” The particular display at issue revolved around Eddie Van Halen, the legendary guitarist and co-founder of the band Van Halen. The display contains a collection of Van Halen’s guitars, his amplifiers, and his effects units, as well as interpretive educational text and placards and a multimedia video interview. The display reproduced, among other things, two photographs taken by professional photographer Neil Zlozower.

The photographer sued the museum for copyright infringement in 2024. His complaint, in its amended form, contended that the museum did not obtain his permission before using his photographs. The museum moved for a judgment on the pleadings based on the doctrine of fair use, leading to this opinion.

Fair use. The court granted the motion for judgment on the pleadings. Critically, the court found, the museum made a transformative use of the photographs. The photographer’s hope in creating the two images, the court noted, was to portray the band members as a “fun-loving, good-looking party band so that they could tease their fans before the release of their second album.” By contrast, the court noted, the museum exhibit used the photographs as “but one of many design elements” in an exhibit that “contextualizes the significance of the exhibition objects: namely, its guitars and related sound equipment.” More particularly, the court found, the museum’s focus was not to promote the band; rather, the museum’s focus was “on Eddie Van Halen only and on ‘Frankenstein,’ his guitar, illustrating the significance of the instrument in the history of rock and roll.”

Nor did it matter that the museum allegedly made a commercial use of the photographs, the court found. To be sure, the court noted, the photographer alleged that the museum charged admission “despite generating a profit each year from its operations.” But the photographer did not allege that a fee was charged to view this particular exhibit, the court noted, and in any event the alleged commercial aspect of the display did not overcome the museum’s transformative purpose “nor negate the fair use defense.”

The court also found that the fourth factor, measuring the effect of the allegedly infringing use on the market, also supported a finding of fair use. Even reading the complaint liberally in the photographer’s favor, the court found, there was “no factual allegation that [the museum] reproduced the original works for sale or publication in a media which would compete with [the photographer’s] books or other listed uses.” Indeed, the court noted, the photographer did not allege that he specifically licensed the photographs to museums nor that the museum “usurped the market” by, for instance, licensing the photographs to other museums. Thus, the court concluded, the fourth factor also weighed in the museum’s favor.

The Case is No. 1:24-cv-01817-CAB.

Judge: Boyko, C.

Attorneys: Joshua D. Vera (Sanders Law LLC) for Neil Zlozower. Nathan B. Webb, Stephen J. Knerly, and Ethan J. Peters (Hahn, Loeser & Parks LLP) for Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.

Companies: Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum, Inc.

Cases: Copyright OhioNews GCNNews